The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for protecting, installing and removing a fragile device having a screw thread mount and more particularly to an apparatus and method for protecting, installing and removing mercury-vapor lamps to be used in lithography equipment utilized in the manufacture of electronic circuits and devices.
Step and repeat lithography equipment used in the manufacture of electronic circuits and devices require the use of a bright source of illumination for repeatedly exposing photoresist on a semiconductor wafer during the manufacturing process. Mercury-vapor lamps have been commonly used for this purpose. Typically such lamps have a screw thread mount for installing them in a particular piece of lithography equipment. Such mercury-vapor lamps are quite fragile and great care must be taken during shipment and installation to avoid the creation of even the smallest microscopic fractures in the lamp housing. Such fractures if undetected can lead to catastrophic failure of the lamp during operation. In addition, the glass housing of the lamp cannot be touched or contaminated by dirt during shipment or installation since fingerprints on the housing will reduce the transmission of light during operation which will negatively affect the performance of the lamp.